Wagon-body lifter



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SIMEON LANGFORD, OF CYNTHIANA, INDIANA.

WAGON-BODY LIFTER.

SPECIFICATTON forming part of Letters Patent No. 422,424, dated March 4, 1890.

Application filed September 6, 1889. Serial No. 323,128. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SIMEON LANGFORD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oynthiana, Posey county, State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in WVagomBody Lifters, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention has for its object to furnish a novel lifting device adapted to be used in lifting a wagon-body from its running-gear and retaining it in a suspended position until it is desired to replace it again 5 and it consists of the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter described, and which are illustrated in the drawings, Wl16l'6l11-= Figure l is a side elevation of the apparatus in the position occupied when being applied to a wagon-body. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the position of parts occupied when the body is partly elevated. Fig. 3 is a view showing the position of parts when the body is suspended at its highest point; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the loop.

A represents a beam of about the length of a Wagon-body adapted to be suspended by a rope or chain a. in any suitable or convenient place, as from a cross bar or beam B in a wagon shed or from a post in a field, where it may be desired to remove and replace a wagon body. From one end of this beam is suspended a loop or connecting piece 0, preferably of metal, adapted to slip over one end of the wagon-body, as illustrated in the drawings. To the other end of the beam a link or short piece of wood L'is secured, to the lower end of which is pivoted a lever D, the fulcrum d thereof being nearer one end of the lever than the other. 1

E is a chain secured to the short arm of the lever D, and provided at its lower end with a double hook a, one end of which engages with the wagon bed and the other with the chain. Another chain H is secured upon the bolt which fastens the lever D to the end of the link L, and is just long enough to engage with the upper end of the hook 6 when the body has been partly elevated, as shown in Fig. 2. A rope F is secured to the other end of the lever D, and from. the same side thereof as that to which the chain E is secured, but near the end opposite therefrom projects a hook G.

When it is desired to lift a wagon-body from its running-gear, the wagon is moved under the beam A, which is suitably suspended, as by a chain, over a cross-beam of the shed, and the loop or connecting-piece O is passed over one end= as the front endof the body and the hook c at the end of the chain E is made to engage with the under side of the opposite or hind end of the body, the chain E being just long enough to permit this when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1. The operator then draws downward upon the outer or long arm of the lever D, by means of the rope F, until the lever is brought into the position shown in Fig. 2. The lower end of the chain H is then hooked over the upper end of the hook e, which will secure the parts until the long end of the le ver D is raised, which will again lower the chain E into the position it occupied originally; but as the hook c has been raised, as above described, it can be made to engage with another link of the chain considerably nearer the end of the lever D, The operator then draws down on the rope F, which will cause that end of the lever D to be lowered and the opposite end raised, which of course will carry the chain E, hook; c, and the body with it, which will thus raise the body several feet from the ground, and the parts will occupy the position shown in Fig. 3, the lever and the chain E lying side by side, with the short arm of the lever elevated. When in this position the hook G is made to engage with the chain E, so that it and the lever shall be locked together. A reverse movement permits the lowering of the body, as will be understood.

The above described device is simple in construction and easily manipulated, a single person being able therewith to quickly and easily remove or replace a wagon-body.

lVhile I consider the apparatus shown to be the preferred form of my invention, still I do not wish to be confined to the exact c011- struction shown, since it might be varied in different ways without departing from the spirit of my invention. Thus other means than the loop 0 might be employed to connect the Wagon-body and the beam, and the rope F might be omitted, provided the opera tor could reach the long arm of the lever 1').

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is- 1. The combination of a suspended beam, a connecting-piece adapted to connect one end of the beam with the wagon-body, a lever suspended from the other end of the beam, and a hook suspended from one end of the said lever and adapted to engage with the wagon-body, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the suspended beam, a connecting-picce adapted to connect one end of the beam with a Wagon-body, a lever suspended from the other end of the beam, a hook suspended from one end of the said lever and adapted to engage with the Wagonbody, and a hook l, which connects the lever and the chain, substantially as described.

The combination of the suspended beam, the loop suspended from one end thereof, the

lever D, suspended from the opposite end thereof, the chain E, secured to the lever, the hook c secured to the chain, and the hook G, substantially as described.

l. The combination of the suspended beam, the connecting-piece adapted to connect one end of the beam with one end of the wagonbody, a link or piece connected to the opposite end of the beam, a lever pivoted to the lower end of the link, a chain secured to one end thereof, a hook detachably secured to said chain adapted to engage with the wagonbody, and a shorter chain secured to the end of the link on the end of the beam, the lower end of which is adapted to engage with the hook when the body has been partly elevated, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

SIMEON LANGFORD.

\Vitnesses:

W 1 WILSON, U. RrJIs'rER, Jr. 

